A New Life
by JettAndNina
Summary: 14 year old Nina and her mum have just found out that the Braxtons are their brothers and uncles. They find this as an opportunity for a fresh start, but have they thought wrong?
1. Chapter 1

_Nina's POV:_

"So, this must be Summer Bay…" said mum as she admired the beautiful scenery of the beach. "Mum, are you sure about this? I mean, you don't even know if they're your brothers yet…" I said stepping out of the car. "Honey, stop fretting, your granny said they are, so they are. Anyways, even if they weren't what harm could it do?" mum said. "I just don't want you to get hurt…" I sighed. "Babe, don't worry about me! I should be the one worrying about you! Come on now, lets go find your new uncles. We can start by going over to that diner" she said pointing at a diner overlooking the sea. As we stepped inside, the smell of coffee filled our lungs. Mum went over to a lady at the counter with red hair and asked where she could find the Braxtons. "At Angelo's restaurant, darl, you can find Brax there." she said in a kind tone. "Thank you" mum said appreciatively.

Dread was spreading throughout my body. I didn't want to meet my new 'uncles'. I didn't want my mother to get hurt. Again. Its happened before, with my dad. He left us. It was awful. Mum had no job, no money, nothing. Since Gran told mum that she has brothers, mum looked at this as an opportunity for a fresh start. So now, the plan is to move to Summer Bay, with my so-called uncles. I don't even know if Gran is telling the truth. She has a reputation for telling lies.

I never experienced the feeling I got when we entered Angelo's. It was a mix of dread, nerves and anxiety. The restaurant was surprisingly modern, you could even say it was fancy.

Mum walked up to the counter and asked where Brax was. "You're talking to him" the barman replied. He was tall, muscular and quite handsome. "Oh, Hi. Do you have a moment to talk?" mum replied feeling stupid. "I could take a break, yeah…". We went and sat to the nearest table. "Em… Hi my name is Rochelle and this is my daughter Nina. Well, I don't know how to say this and it may come a surprise to you… But…err, I'm your sister…" mum said nervously. There was a moment of silence. "And this girl here, my daughter, is your niece…" she said putting a hand on my shoulder awkwardly trying to break the tension. He chuckled "Is this some sort of joke Casey put you up to?". "No, no, well I'm really your step sister, we have the same mothers you see…". I could see the look of surprise and confusion on Brax's face. "Okay so prove it's not a joke" he said amused. " Well, if you call your mother she will explain everything…" mum said. "And you expect me just to believe you like that?" he asked. "Well, I have a birth certificate to prove that I'm not lying." mum said handing over her birth certificate. He observed the certificate for a few seconds. "This is real…" Brax said amazed. "Why didn't mum tell me…" he said. "Mum said that she wanted you to call her once you found out… she wanted to come to explain but she said she couldn't, I don't know why though…" mum said trying to cover for her mother. "Right… I probably should call her now then…" he said, confusion in his eyes. He went over to the counter and took out his mobile phone from one of the shelves. "Mum, are you sure about this? You can stop it now if you want." I said to mum desperately. "Honey, we've come this far and I'm not going to give up now." she replied, but I still wasn't convinced. After what looked like a heated conversation on the phone, Brax came back. "I guess you really are my step-sister… and step-niece." he said awkwardly. We just sat there in silence. " So… do you live here, In Summer Bay?" I asked trying to break the silence. "No, I live in Mongrove River. "Where do you guys live?" He asked. "Well, we lived in Sydney, but we're thinking of renting a caravan here, in Summer Bay." mum said. "Oh, so your moving here?" he said suprised. "Well, that's the plan…" mum said. "So, I hear you have other brothers?". "Yeah, Heath, Casey and Kyle. You should probably come over to our house so they can meet you." he said. "Yeah, that would be great." mum said.

We walked down to their house. Brax was on the phone ordering his brothers to meet at the house for a meeting most of the walk down. "So, this is where we live" he said as he opened the door. It was nice. Not what I was expecting. "Oh wow, Its really nice here." mum said with a pleasant smile. "Its okay, I guess… Do you want a drink?" he asked. "Yeah, that would be lovely" mum replied. He went out in the kitchen to get some drinks. "He seems nice, doesn't he babe?" mum said as she lowered herself on the couch. "I guess…" I said. Just then, the door opened and two brothers walked in. Their eyes landed on us. "Hello." said mum as she stood up. Brax came into the seating area with two drinks in his hands. He gave me a can of coke and mom a cup of coffee. "Eh… Brax, whats going on?" asked the younger one. "Yeah, this better be good, I had to leave my surfing for this." said the older one who was covered in tatoos. Just then another brother came in. He was about the same age as the younger guy. "Brax, whats the problem?" he said. "Okay, this is Rochelle and Nina, and well… they are your sister and niece…" Brax said. "What?" the young one chuckled. "Okay, I know you and Casey like to play little pranks on each other but isn't this one a bit too much?" the older one said. "This isn't a prank, I thought it was one too at first but then they proved it too me with a certificate. They have the same mum as us." Brax explained. Mum saw this as her queue to give her certificate to the brothers. The older one looked at it for about 10 seconds. "I think this is real." shock on his face. "What? Give me that.." the younger one said as he snatched the certificate from the older one. He got the same impression on his face after reading the cert. After everyone had a chance to read it, Brax introduced them to me and mum. The older one was called Heath, the younger one called Casey and the one who came in last was called Kyle. "So… you're my sister and niece?" Casey said, still shocked. "Yeah, well, really your step-sister and step-niece." mum said. We had a converstation about me and mum for about 20 minutes. "So, do you know who to go to to rent a caravan?" mum asked. "Yeah, I'll show you where to go" Brax said. He brought us to a house that was beside a load of caravans. Brax said he'd leave us to it. Mum knocked on the door of the house and an old man came and opened it. "Can I help you?" he said in a polite tone. "Hi, Im Rochelle and Im looking to rent a caravan." mum said. "Oh, come on in then. Im Alf" he replied. Mum and Alf talked business for around half an hour. I wasn't listening for most of it., I was too busy drinking my hot chocolate. Finally Alf gave mum a key. He said our caravan number was 26. We left and went to pursue our caravan. After around 15 minutes searching the caravan park we finally found it. It was smaller than I expected. Mum opened the door with the key. It was small. Very small. It looked only big enough for one person to live in it. "Well, this is nice and cosy…" mum said. "Yeah… for a mouse." I said not impressed. "Stop always being negative Nina, Its perfect…" mum said. "What ever you say…" I said. "Now, go and get your bags from the car." mum ordered. I went reluctantly. It was only a five minute walk to the car park. I opened the car boot. My surfboard was the first thing I saw. Dad had given it to me for my birthday before he left. I used to surf on it back in Sydney, but that was 6 months ago before he left. The ocean in Summer Bay looked so good, even better that Sydney. I couldn't help but change into my swim wear in the car and go to the sea with my surfboard. That was a big mistake. It was refreshing at first, clearing my mind while swimming to the waves. The waves were beautiful. Just as I looked back the perfect waves was coming. I started to paddle and as the waves came under me I began to lift my legs up one by one. It was great… for around 2 seconds. My foot slipped on the board. I forgot to wax it. I fell into the water. My head struck the surfboard. My hand felt as a huge bump began to grow on my head. I was still under water. I began to panic. My head was throbbing. I tried to swim to the surface of the water but something was pulling me down. Desperately I swam down to see that the leash of the surf board was caught onto something at the bottom of the sea. I quickly untied my foot from the leash. I swam up to the surface of the water. I already had some salt water in my lungs and my head felt like it was going to explode. Once I reached the surface of the water I tried as hard as I could to swim to shore, but something was holding me back again. The current. Panic was starting to settle into me again. I screamed. My legs and arms were getting tired. I couldn't stay up. I kept going under, swallowing more water. Screaming was my only choice. I tried to cough up the salt water, but even if I did, more salt water would fill my lungs each time I went under. My head was getting worse, the throbbing turning into harmers hitting at my head. Suddenly my vision started to get blurry. My whole body started to shut down. Slowly my body began to sink deeper and deeper into the ocean. It was over, nothing could have saved me now. Just as I lost all hope an arm grabbed me back to the water's surface. I was too exhausted to even speak. I began to move. I was heading to shore. A muscular body was cradling me. Tattoos were

Inked all over his arms and chest. The only one I could read out was 'Blood And Sand'. The person holding me was obviously a surfer. He lay me down on the sand in an awkward position. I began to cough. The salt water Travelled out of my mouth. I kept coughing until it was no longer present in my lungs. Now it was just my head. My vision was still blurry and I felt like I was going to pass out. "We need to get you to hospital" someone said. He sounded familiar. I looked up, my head pounding. It was Brax. I saw the tattoo 'Blood And Sand' that I saw earlier. "I never knew you were a surfer." I said with all my strength. "How do you know?" he asked. "Your tattoo.". At that moment everything blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Me, mum and dad were in our old living room. It was my birthday. Dad gave me a present wrapped in pink glossy paper. I knew what it was, it was quite obvious, but I pretended that I didn't. I ripped off the wrapping paper to find a surfboard, my size. It was white with purple streaks on it. I wasn't happier in all my life. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. Perfect family, perfect home, perfect everything. But nothing is ever perfect. Maybe for a while, but then everything goes downhill from there. I was back to that day when dad left. Only a week after my birthday. I was hiding under my duvet in my bed trying to muffle the sounds of screams and shouts. Mum and dad were fighting.

" This is the end, Rochelle. I can't deal with it anymore. This is not healthy for a relationship. For god sake, we have a child together!".

" Well what do you want me to do? Sit at home and mind our child while you go off with some other girls? Its not damn fair!"

"You know what," Dad started with a sigh "I thought this could work out. This open relationship, okay, but obviously you can't handle it-"

"I can't handle it! You son of a bitch, I'm your wife, I think I get to reserve the right to be jealous." Mum fumed.

"Look please Rochelle can't we handle this like adults, if not only for Nina's sake."

"No, no," Mum shouted "I can't do this anymore. People are finding out. You know what they call us, you know what they say. I can't be just another hoar for you Paul. I give up, it's them or me."

There was a long pause. I started to worry that they might hear my heart thumping loud and heavy against my chest.

"Oh my god, you are actually thinking about it." Mum hissed "You are honestly thinking about leaving your child and wife for a bunch of cheap prostitutes. You cowardly piece of sh-"

"I'm leaving you." Dad burst out.

There was another silence. I had to shove my hand over my mouth in an attempt to stifle my sobs.

"Get out," Mum said, in a terrifying monotone "get out, get out, GET OUT."

I heard scuffles and I heard some things breaking and then I heard the door slam.

It was only then that I found out that mum and dad were having affairs with other people. I was heartbroken. They had pretended that everything between them was perfect. It sickened me. I felt cheated. I needed to get away from everything. I climbed out of my bedroom window and headed to the forest. But before I could reach it I heard A voice saying " wake up Nina, wake up".

I woke up. I was in a bed in what looked like a hospital. I sat up. My head was still sore but not as bad as it was. I felt a bandage wrapped around my head. The first person I saw was mum, then Casey.

"Oh my god, Nina, you're awake! Are you okay? Do you feel well? Do you remember me? I am your mother, your name is Nina, you've come to live in summer bay, you used to live in Syd-".

" Mum, its okay, I remember you."

"Oh Nina, I was so worried. What were you thinking going surfing?" said mum as she held my hand, her hands trembling with relief.

"I don't know mum..." I said, regretting my actions.

" Well at least your alright now. I'm just glad your alive." said mum as she hugged me really tightly.

"Where's Brax?" I said, feeling that I needed to apologise for causing him all the trouble of saving me.

" He's at Angelos. I'll call him now to say that your awake." said Casey.

I nodded.

Just then the doctor came in. He informed us that everything seemed to be okay and that I just had a mild concussion and I would thankfully make a full recovery but I'd need a lot of rest. "That's a relief" mum sighed as she stroked my hair.

"My surfboard?" I said, suddenly remembering that I had left it behind. "Oh babe, that's in the ocean now, it's gone" mum said sympathetically.

I couldn't help but feel disappointed. That was the only thing that I had left of my father. It reminded me of the good memories I had with him and mum. When everything seemed perfect. I then recalled the dream I had before I woke up. It was the day dad left. I tried to distract myself. I didn't like repeating that day, when I found out that my dad was a complete monster.

"How long was I in a concussion?" I asked, trying to delete the memory from my brain.

"Only overnight" said Casey who was finished his phone call with Brax. " By the way Nina, your definitely going to be grounded when we get home." said mum in a strict manner.

"Of course I am..." I said sarcastically.

"Don't be cheeky." she said with a smirk "Now gets some rest. I'm just going to go back to our caravan to check up on a few things, I'll be back before you know it" said mum as she lifted herself off the seat beside the bed.

"Yeah, I need to go too, I'll see you later" said Casey.

"Bye." I replied. I lay in the hospital bed for a few minutes trying to recall what happened yesterday. So much had happened. Too much had happened. First meeting my new uncles, then moving into a new home and now I'm laying in a hospital bed. A smile spread on my face, as I chuckled at how I ended up in a hospital on my first day in Summer Bay. I knew that living here was going to be eventful, very eventful. Before I knew it I fell into a dreamless sleep.

After what seemed like only a few minutes I woke up to see a broad figure in front of me. It only took me half a second to know it was Brax. "Brax..." I said my voice croaky.

" Yeah, did I wake you?" he said.

"No, I just woke up myself." I lied.

"oh right, well your okay?" he asked.

"yeah, I'm great..." feeling this was my que to apologise. " Brax, I'm really sorry for making you go through all the trouble of saving me." I said, rather embarrassed.

"Don't mention it." he said coolly.

As I looked at Brax, I had a flashback of his tattoo on her chest that I saw yesterday.

"So you're a surfer?" I asked him.

"Oh yeah, you saw my tattoo yesterday, yeah I am a surfer." he replied. "your mum told me you used to surf in Sydney.".

"Yeah, a bit." I casually.

"Maybe I'll give you some surf lessons." he said casually.

"yeah, but I don't have a surfboard." I said, pleased that he offered.

" I'm sure Casey will lend you one of his old ones." he said with a smirk as he walked out the door.

I stayed awake until mum arrived back. She handed me a sandwich and a soda. The sandwich smelt fresh and delicious. I didn't realise how hungry I was as I munched down on my lunch. After around an hour or so, the doctor came and informed us that I was free to go as long as I got plenty of rest and fluids. I was glad to leave the hospital, it was getting boring there and the smell of medication and anti-bacterial cleaning smell didn't help either. Me and mum went back to our caravan. Mum made me go to bed even though I wasn't even a bit sleepy. I decided to go anyways, because I did not want to disagree with her, after all I did make her worried sick. I walked over to my bed and noticed all my luggage was on my it. I asked mum if she carried it here, but she said Casey and Kyle did. That was another thing I had to say thank you for. I decided that I'd walk over to their house to say thank you after I had my rest. I tried to sleep but it was no use. It's nearly impossible for me to sleep in the daylight. My only choice was to pretend to mum that I had slept. After around half an hour of 'sleeping' I asked mum if I could go on a walk for fresh air. She agreed to my disbelief although she did say not to go far. I was sure the Braxton's wasn't far from the caravan, anyways I remembered the exact route we took when Brax walked us down to Alf's house. At least I thought I did.

After around twenty minutes walking around the caravan park trying to figure out which way to go i finally decided to ask someone for directions. The only person in sight was a teenage girl with black hair with streaks of purple running through it. For some strange reason it reminded me of my surf board. She only looked a few years older than me. I went over and asked which direction the Braxton's house was.

"Just over there." she said pointing in the opposite direction.

"Are you supposed to be walking?" she asked hesitantly.

At first I didn't know how she knew about my head injury but then I remembered about the bandage wrapped around my head. I tried to think of a quick excuse but the best one I could think of was saying

"yeah, I just have a bit of a headache...".

By the reaction on her face I could see she was not buying it, so I quickly said thank you and ran off. It was only a five minute walk from then. When I finally got to their house I knocked on Casey's apartment door.

"It's open" he shouted from inside.

I opened the door to see Casey and a young boy around my age playing video games.

"Oh hey Nina, are you alone?" he said to me as I walked in.

" No, I walked here myself." I said.

"Should you be walking?" he asked.

"Yeah, mum said fresh air would do me good..." I said. I almost pinched myself for not saying that excuse to the surfboard girl.

"Right..." he said.

"Im just here to say thanks for bringing my luggage to the caravan..." I said awkwardly.

"It was no problem." he said smiling.

I smiled back.

"Well.. See ya." I said quickly.

I was about to walk out the door when Casey asked

"Hey, do you want to play some video games with me and Jett?".

I said yes after a few seconds of hesitation, mum wont mind if Im a bit late. We played for around half an hour. I only half talked to this boy Jett, most of the time we just playing video games, so concentrated on winning we had no time for speaking. When the two boys were in the middle of a game I looked at my watch.

"Shoot! I'm supposed to be back home with mum! I have to go, See ya Casey, see you around Jett." I said as I rushed out of the apartment.

Mum is going to kill me I thought in my head as I half jogged, half ran home. And she did. She also gave me a lecture of how worried that something had happened to me she was. I just went to my bed. I felt quite bad too. I didn't realise how much worry I caused. I sat there for twenty minutes, bored out of my mind. I then realised that I never said thanks to Kyle.

"Mum, can I go out for a while I promise I won't be long!" I said hoping for a positive answer.

"What makes you expect me to say okay after you just made me look half of the caravan park for you?" she asked.

" Because I need to say thank you to Kyle for bringing in my luggage?" I said all hope lost.

" I think you know my answer." she said

"Anyways Nina, what makes you think you have to say thank you right now? You can just say thanks when you see them next.".

I then realised how mum was right. Why did I think that I needed to thank them straight away? I couldn't think of an answer for some strange reason.

" I honestly don't know mum." I replied.

"Here, you can go and say thank you to Kyle only if I come with you," she said "I want to go get some fresh air from this caravan anyways." Knowing this was the best deal I was going to get I agreed with her terms.

"He's probably at Angelo's, he works there you know." mum said.

"Yes, I know..." I said.

For about the whole walk mum was chatting about how great the Braxton's were, owning a restaurant and stuff. I had blanked out after around 2 minutes of her talking. We eventually got to Angelo's after getting a bit lost along the way. Just to our luck Kyle was at the counter.

"Hi Kyle." mum said chirpily to my embarrassment.

"Eh, hi ..." he said obviously wondering why we were here.

"Nina wanted to say something to you" mum said with a smile.

His eyes met mine.

"Thank you for bringing my luggage to my caravan" I said, feeling forced by mum.

"Eh, your welcome..." he replied, befuddled.

"Okay great, see you Kyle" mum said before she turned around and walked to the door.

"Sorry" I whispered to Kyle before I started following her.

We stayed in the caravan for the rest of the evening. The next day I had to go to the doctors for a check up. The bump I had on my head was Completely down and it had hardly given me any stress. Dr. Walker took off the bandage and examined it.

"Seems to have made a full recovery very quickly, although I would like you to come back for another check up soon just in case." he said in one of those serious doctor voices.

" Can I take this bandage off now?" I asked desperately.

"As long as you take extra care of it." he said to my delight.

On the way home we stopped at the Braxton's. Mum went in to talk to Brax, but I said I'd just walk home.

"I dont think so, Dr. Walker said your not supposed to do any activities." she said strictly.

"mum, he said not to do any 'active' activities. I'm sure a 10 minute walk isn't that active." I said.

"okay...fine." she said, although I knew she still didn't approve.

I started walking the same route I took when I was going over to say thanks to Casey. I had walked around 2 minutes when I bumped into Jett.

" Oh hi Jett." I said politely.

"Hi Nina." he said with a smile. "you got rid of your bandage!" he said, quite enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I was just at the doctors" I replied.

"How did you even get that bandage anyways? I forgot to ask you yesterday" he asked.

"Its a long story" I stated.

"I like long stories" he said smirking.

So I told him the whole story while we walked back to my caravan.

"Sorry I didn't mean to change your route.." I said when I realised where we were

" Is okay, I didn't really have a destination at first.

"So ou were just walking around going nowhere?".

"Yep" he said proudly.

"I wish I was as fit as you Jett." I said smiling as I stepped into the caravan "See you around."

I was tired so I decided to go to bed. I must of been really tired because I slept from six in the evening through the night to ten o'clock in the morning.

It was Friday. The smell of eggs filled my nostrils. I couldn' help but gag a little. I hated eggs, but mum always makes me eat them because she claims they're good for protein. I reluctantly went out to the table where a plate of scrambled eggs (my least favourite form) lay I front of me.

"Now, you eat these, you'll need a lot of energy for today."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you're going to start school!" she said a little too enthusiastically.

Dread filled throughout my body. It's not that I had a bad history with school it was just that I knew no one going into this school.

"Do I ha-" I began.

"Yes, we're going to sign you up for it today, I don't care what you say. Your going."

There was no point trying to convince her not to go today, it was quite clear she made up her mind. "Now dress nicely, I don't want you to look like a slag." she said.

I put on a pair of coral coloured jeans and a cream lace top. I just about still fitted my pair of sandals. The school didn't seem quite far so we walked it. It was twelve in the morning. As we approached the school I saw that it was swarming with kids. Suddenly a mixture of nerves and self awareness filled my body. We walked in through the doors. I felt the people's stares at me, like I was some alien who flew down to earth from space. Mum embarrassingly walked through the halls, as if she hadn't a care in the world. After what seemed like hours of people staring, we finally reached the principles office. Mum knocked swiftly on the door. We heard a voice calling for us to come in. The principle had blond hair and was quite pretty.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, um, I wish to have my daughter enrolled in the school." mum said sounding like she rehearsed the line.

"And what may be your names?" the principle asked.

"Ms. Rechingture, and my daughters name is Nina Rechingture." mum said a bit too proudly.

"Oh, your the Braxton's step sister and niece!" she said as she stood up.

I wasn't quite sure how she knew.

"Yes, indeed." mum said sounding quite as confused as I was.

"Im Bianca, well Ms. Scott for you," she said as her eyes darted to me. Im Heat's fiancé." she said as she held out her hand to mum.

"Oh, I did hear Heath had a fiancé, I didnt realise it was you!" mum said as she shook her hand.

After around 10 minutes of mum and Ms. Scott chatting about various family stuff they got back to business.

"You can just sign these papers and you're set to go" she said with a welcoming smile.

'I'll leave you too alone so you can sign the papers privately." she said as she Walked out of the room.

"Okay, thanks Bianca" mum said as she watched Bianca walk out of her own office.

It was weird, I had never been in a principles office without any teacher around. In fact, the only other time I had been in the principles office was when I was getting enrolled in my last school. My last school was preety bad, I had friends and all but the teachers and school was really run down. I wasnt even sure the teachers were actually real teachers, I still

think they were random people on the street and the council just randomly picked them and told them that if they acted like teachers they would give them money, just so they could save a couple of quid. But the teachers weren't the worst bit, the school itself was really run down. The hall walls were plastered with grime, and don't even get me started on the floors. The lockers were so dusty that every time you opened your locker a cloud of dust appeared causing you to cough. I would try to clean my locker but even if i did, more dust somehow reappeared the next day. Only one toilet worked In The girls bathroom and believe me, it's not very sanitary when the whole of the school uses that one toilet. I don't even think the school hired a janitor, that's how broke the school was.

And would have been pointless asking the students to keep everything clean.

But in this school everything seemed clean, new, fresh. Maybe this school won't be bad after all. Anyways after a load of looking through sheets and stuff I was officially enrolled so there was no backing out now. They gave me my books for rent and my uniform. The uniform was nice, well compared to my last school's uniform. I was starting next Monday. In three days. Suddenly everything was going way too fast. I could hardly keep up. I had just moved here and I was already starting school. On Saturday I took it easy giving myself a break. But my break was ruined because of my nerves. I knew no one going in, I was all alone. On Sunday, mum went frantic getting organised for me going back to school. I tried to tell myself not to be nervous, but that didn't really work. I decided to go for a walk to calm the nerves. Maybe all I needed was some fresh air. I walked around the caravan park but was cut in my tracks by Jett who seemed to have been lurking around.

" Hi Nina!" he said chirpily.

"Hi" I said "fancy seeing you here...".

"Yeah, Im just waiting for a friend" he said.

"Cool" I said with a smile. He returned the smile.

Just then another boy came over. He had blond hair and was around the same size as Jett.

"Oh, Nina this is Vj," he said "and Vj this is Nina, The Braxton's niece.". "Hi" I said with a smile.

"Hi" he said back shyly.

"Well, I'll let you guys do whatever you were gonna do, see ya" I said as I started to walk away.

"Hey Nina!" Jett half shouted.

"Yeah?" I said as I looked back.

"Me and Vj were going to go to the beach, do you wanna come?" he asked.

I looked at my watch. It was ten past two. I didn't exactly tell mum when I would be back.

"Sure" I said "why not?".

So we all walked down to the beach.

"So have you gotten to know Summer Bay yet?" Jett asked.

"Well, kind of, if you're talking about the caravan park and the route from my caravan to the Braxtons house." I said.

"Me and Vj should give you a tour someday" Jett suggested.

"yeah, that would be great" I said.

We had reached the beach.

I looked out to the ocean remembering the time when I almost drowned which seemed so long ago.

"So do either of you guys surf?" I asked.

"Well, I'm training..." said Jett.

I looked to Vj, he hadn't really spoken at all.

"Well, I do sometimes.." he said.

"Cool" i said casually.

"So, are you starting school anytime soon?" Jett asked.

"Actually I'm starting tomorrow" I said.

"Really? What school?" he asked.

"Summer Bay, of course" I said with a cheeky smile.

"That's where me and Vj go to school" he said.

I suddenly felt a chunk of my nervousness disappear. At least I knew at least somebody at my new school.

"That's a relief, at least I know two people there!" I said with a grin.

"If you want me and Vj could walk you there, its not too far from where you live" Jett said.

"Really? Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, it would be no problem, right Vj?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem" Vj replied.

His face had suddenly lit up.

"Well thanks guys, that's really nice of you" I said. " I have to go now, see you later" I said as I headed off.

I got kind of lost on the way, but I finally made my way home.

Mum was making dinner. After dinner mum ordered me to go to bed early.

It was the next morning. I dressed into my uniform and did all my usual routines. I couldn't decide what style to put my hair in, I was just so nervous. In the end I just did a messy bun. I waited outside my door for Jett and Vj. They came just in time.

"Hi Jett, hi Vj" I said smiling.

"Hey Nina" said Jett.

"Hi Nina" Vj said rather excitedly. "Ready to go?".

"Yep, let's go" I said.

We walked to the school. Vj was talking and laughing way more than he was yesterday. Maybe he was just shy about meeting someone new.

"Maybe you'll be in me and Vj's class" Jett said.

"Yeah, that would be awesome!" said Vj.

"Hopefully" I said as I crossed my fingers behind my back.

We walked in through the school doors. The nerves were really kicking in. Jett and Vj introduced me to a few of their friends. When the school bell rang they brought me to the the principles office while they were on their way to class. She assigned me to my class which lucky enough was Vj's and Jett's class. To be honest, I don't know what I was nervous about, I made a few new friends and the teachers weren't half bad. All in all, I kind of enjoyed it.

Life became quite enjoyable from there, I had two new best friends, Jett and Vj, and loads other new friends. School was going great, AND I was getting good grades. Me and mum's caravan wasn't as small as it was when we first saw it, it just needed getting used to. And Brax was giving me the surf lessons he had promised me. Even though Casey's old board wasn't as good as my old one, it was still preety good. I was spending more time with the Braxton's and I could even safely say they were my family. Everything was perfect...perfect.

It was three months after I had started school. I had just come home from another day of school. Mum was sitting at the table with a serious face on her.

"Whats wrong?" I asked her.

"Babe, I need you to come over here and sit at the table." she said in a serious tone.

I went the table nervously.

"Honey, months ago I applied for a job...".

"What job?!" I asked immediately.

"Just, hear me out. I applied for a job months before we moved here. It had been so long since they contacted me I thought I didn't get the job, that was my last chance, so I decided for us to move here. But...".

" But what?!".

"But, the Sunday before you started school I got a phone call from the company...".

I honestly did not want to hear the next words.

"they told me that I got the job, and that I would be starting three months from then."

Please tell me she didn't take the job were the words that kept replaying in my head.

"I took the job...".

There was silence.

" And I'm leaving tomorrow for New York".

New York? Please please please tell me there is a nearby place in Australia called New York, and it's not the New York that is more than half way across the world.

"Babe? Are you okay?" mum asked. How can she expect me to be 'okay' with it! I'm just about to enjoy my fricken life and she has to ruin it all. I don't want to fricken leave tomorrow to NEW fricken YORK!

"B-B But I -I-" I could hardly get the words out, but after a few secounds I finally did. "But I don't want to move to new York!" I said quietly, the ball in my throaght almost suffocating me. Mum then broke down into tears.

"Nina," she sobbed "I love you so much, I can't explain how much I love you but, I can't, I can't bring you with me... I just don't have enough money, Nina..." her sobbs muffled her sentences.

I couldn't add up the words she just said. It just didn't make sense. She couldn't do this to me. Not now. I already had one parent walk out on me, I couldn't let another one walk out.

"You can't, you just can't..." I cried.

I stormed out of the caravan sobbing. I had to get away from her. I ran sobbing, hearing her screams for me to come back. I just ran. I ran and ran and ran my arm covering my eyes. I ran until I bumped into this slim bony body. I looked up to see who it was. Jett.

"Nina, whats wrong?" he asked concernedly.

I just sobbed even harder. He wrapped his arms around me. I must have looked pretty ugly, my mascara was running down my face because I could see wet black stains on the sleeve of my hoodie. Finally my sobbing turned into tears.

"So, you wanna talk?" he asked.

So we found a bench and I told him everything while I rested my head on his shoulder. After I told him we just sat there in silence.

" So, where are you going to go now." he asked.

"I dunno, probably Brax's or something..." I said.

"You know, if your ever need somewhere to stay I'm sure John won't mind you staying..." he said.

I couldnt help but smile at his cuteness.

"Not likely to happen, but thanks for the offer, it was sweet of you" I

Said "and thanks for all this...".

"Thanks for what?".

"for being there when I needed someone" I said.

"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time" he said with a proud smile.

"Well, thanks anyways," I said as I wiped away the tears rolling down my cheeks with my sleeve. "God, I look a mess, sorry..." I said, once again noticing the mascara on my sleeve.

"What you mean look a mess? You look amazing!" he said.

"I know your only saying that, I know I have mascara running down my face" I said half smirking.

"So? You'd still look beautiful even if a lizard was hugging your face!" he said.

I giggled.

"You look amazing everyday, at any time. You are amazing..." he said as he took a piece of hair covering my face behind my ear.

We looked into each others eyes. The air between us becoming more tense. I could feel his warm breath on my face. Within every second our faces became an inch closer to each others. His eyes sparkled in he reflection of the sun. I had never seen his eyes in that angle before.

I couldn't help, but become attracted to them. Our faces came closer and closer until finally our lips came in contact.


End file.
